


Reindeernapping

by Wordsdear



Category: One Piece
Genre: hmmm what is this a new character tag? what could it possibly mean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2018-09-11
Packaged: 2018-09-30 02:49:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10151636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wordsdear/pseuds/Wordsdear
Summary: Franky and Chopper go grocery shopping, a reindeer gets kidnapped and Franky needs to step up his Cyborg-Dad game. Set after sailing away from Water 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How do you lose a talking reindeer? You forget to love and cherish him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to peppernine-me for reading this over for me! And to sagelynaive for also reading it. And to the many people on Tumblr that I have annoyed with this fic idea.

Grocery shopping was distinctly not super. Franky and Reindeer Gorilla had gotten stuck with last minute supplies duty as Cook Bro was too busy protecting the fresh meat and booze from Straw Hat and Sword Bro. Cook Bro had given them an extensive list and Reindeer Gorrilla had his own list of herbs and textbooks he wanted to get. It all added up to quite a haul so someone needed to order and pay while Reindeer Gorilla lugged everything around. Merchants didn’t take kindly to animals placing orders. So Franky volunteered to be Reindeer Gorilla’s designated human. He wanted to get to know his new crew mates outside the yelling and screaming that was Enies Lobby. The market place was jam packed, a lot of elbows to the stomach and competing smells that didn’t quite go together. Fresh flowers, half rotten cabbages and the body odour of the crowd (he was going to have to force Lil Bro to take a bath eventually, the smell was ridiculous) were enough to make his nose rust. It kind of reminded Franky of back home, he has barely left it 72 hours ago and he was definitely not crying. Rubbing his super dry eyes, he stared down at Cook Bro’s list. It seemed like he had everything. A note was scribbled on the bottom ‘Absolutely no cotton candy, that means you Chopper' Franky snorted. 

“Reindeer Gorilla, look at this-” 

But he was speaking to thin air. The parcel packed Reindeer Gorilla was gone. 

Franky looked down further, maybe he had gone small? Nope. Franky took a deep breath and felt the gears wurr around his lungs.

“HEY REINDEER GORILLA! LITTLE BRO?!” 

Not a peep. Some of the other shoppers were giving him weird looks but they had been looking at him like that since he entered the market, some people just didn’t appreciate fashion. He had just gotten a whiff of Lil Bro’s stench only a few seconds ago, how could he have gotten so far?

“LIL BRO!” 

Still nothing. He looked around trying to spot if a brown gorilla was walking around but only managed to scare a particularly hairy person when he put them in headlock and tried to give them a noogie. How many forms did Lil Bro have? It made him super hard to find, not sure if you should look up or down. Trying again, he put his hands to his mouth.

“LIL BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” 

Maybe Lil Bro got distracted and wandered off? Franky stole a look above the rooftops and let out a small sigh of relief when he didn’t see anything or anyone towering over them. Now he was just being silly. There was no roaring or screaming yet so there no need to panic. Yet. People get lost all time, it is almost a rite of passage losing your Da...Tom in the market. 

If he had his tools on him he could have installed a mega den den mushi in his voice box to allow for maximum volume, but he had neither the tools or the snails, and the actual logistics of feeding a den den mushi hidden in his voice box was making his head spin. Focus Franky, focus. Lil Bro is gone. How do you lose a talking reindeer? They are kind of hard to miss. A talking reindeer, probably worth a lot on the black market. Had Lil Bro said anything as they shopped? If this had been Water Seven, Franky would have been able to find the black market in seconds but here it would take some work and busting a few heads. Not too long ago the Franky family had stolen the Straw Hats’ money and now that he had joined the Straw Hats someone had stolen a Straw Hat, or well Reindeer Gorilla. It must be some kind of twisted justice that it happened on his watch. He didn’t know how he could face the rest of the crew if he actually managed to lose their Doctor. He had only just joined and already he had managed to screw up. Something as simple as grocery shopping should not turn into a Reindeer Gorilla hunt. But really who steals a whole reindeer right from under the person their with’s nose? The thieves here must have nerves of steel, and as someone with actual steel nerves he did not appreciate the challenge. If someone had taken Lil Bro they were going to be in for a nasty surprise. He began to peel off his skin gloves, earning a squeal from the cabbage merchant whose wares he had been eyeing, when he saw it. A few stalls over a pair of antlers were being jostled by the crowd.

“LIL BRO” 

Whispering a small thank you to Gol D Roger, if anyone was looking down on pirates and wishing them well it would be him, Franky made his way over in an instant to give the reindeer a proper noogie. He didn’t know how he had managed to lose sight of a reindeer but now that he had found him again he was going to tie the kid to his damn leg, or make him carry Franky all the way home. Centaur Franky 2.0. 

“Don’t wander off like that, you almost gave me heart attack” 

The reindeer jumped a foot in the air and turned to face Franky. 

“Didn’t mean to scare you Lil Bro. Come on, let’s go back to the ship.” 

He grabbed the reins, did Lil Bro always have reins? Franky was the last person on the crew allowed to make comments about fashion (Girlie had let him know this in no uncertain terms shortly after he joined and made the mistake of saying her shorts were super, she had promptly burnt them) but for all he knew the reins could just be for show in the market. Or because he is a REINdeer? He began to walk away but the reins went tight. He pulled harder but still the damn reindeer wouldn’t budge. Franky stopped for a second and thought, had he done something to piss Reindeer Gorilla off recently? He was 90% sure he hadn’t called Lil Bro a tanuki since leaving Water Seven, as he knew that it was a good way to get his head jumped on. Franky looked up at the shop sign, ‘Cotton Candy’. Should have known, he had been warned after all. Lil Bro just wanted a snack before he left. 

“Okay, just this once little buddy” 

Franky reached into his speedo searching around for the appropriate coinage and pulled the berries out to wave in the cotton candy merchant’s face, who took one look at where Franky had brought it from and told him it was on the house. A stick of pink fluff for himself and one for his bro. He held it down for the reindeer but they just nuzzled at it and then turned away. This was definitely weird. Something was off. 

Franky bent down trying to meet their eyes and finally realized what was missing. 

“Hey Little Bro, where is your hat? Did you lose it?” 

That might explain all this weirdness. After losing his favourite speedo in the wash, Franky had sulked for weeks. Hell it ended up being how the Straw Hats had gotten him to join in the first place, or well some ball grabbing was involved but a quick peek showed the reindeer still had those.

“Okay Lil Buddy, right now we gotta head back to the ship. I’ll buy you a new hat and all the cotton candy you want later.” 

Still not a peep from his bro.

“Okay, if that is how you want to do it” 

He reached to pick up his bro and got a kick to the head for his trouble. Cyborg or no cyborg, he saw stars for a second and rubbed the hoof print on his forehead. 

“Not. Super. Bro. Not Super at all!” 

The reindeer flinched and tried to make themselves as small as possible against the cotton candy stand. A bleeding Long Nose cried as a masked figure loomed over him. No. This wasn’t how he wanted it to go joining the crew.

“Hey Lil Bro, no worries I didn’t mean to yell. Everything is super.” 

He reached out to pet the reindeer’s neck and hesitated, he knew his bro was an animal who ate a devil fruit, but he wasn’t sure if it was rude or patronizing to pet him. He settles for a firm pat, the kind he might give one of the Franky family if they had been drinking too much and getting down in the dumps. 

“I shouldn’t have said that about your hat, sorry Reindeer Bro.”

Maybe he should stop with the nicknames. The reindeer stayed silent. 

“Sorry Chopper.”

He had failed as a bro, his friend had lost something important to him and that wasn’t super. 

“But we really do have to go. We are setting sail soon, before the Marines catch on to us being here. Once we get back to the Sunny the whole crew can help look for it. We won’t sail off without it, promise. ” 

Franky rummaged in one of the grocery bags and pulled out a carrot (Cook Bro could kill him later) and the reindeer began to munch. In under a second Franky had Lil Bro on his shoulders, parcels and all and began to make his getaway. 

“Bet you have never gotten a piggyback in this form huh? Or I guess, reindeerback?” 

Not even a snort but Lil Bro was probably still sulking over his hat. As Franky walked away from the stall he could hear someone yelling but he just waved them off, probably just someone shocked by how super he was, or a marine. He broke into a light jog just in case. After cutting through a few side streets and feeding his Lil Bro some more carrots to cheer him up he finally made it back to the Sunny. 

“Oye it is me” 

Long Nose peeked over the edge of the ship, so Franky tried to give him a wave with his arms full of reindeer, with mixed results. Long Nose got a super double handed wave and Lil Bro got well acquainted with the ground. From a seven foot drop. Franky tried to forget the eggs that were definitely near the top of the grocery list. The reindeer righted themselves and gave him the dirtiest look he had ever gotten from someone, four legs or no four legs. Long Nose decided to finally throw down a rope. Franky looked at it and back at Lil Bro who was still giving him the stink eye. He seemed determined to stay in his reindeer form.

“I guess I really should have installed a ramp, huh?”

A lowered plank, seven carrots, and a matching hoof mark on the other side of Franky’s face later, the reindeer stepped onto the plank as Cook Bro and Long Nose Bro pulled it up. Franky was running low on bribery carrots (he would have to remember the carrot trick for later if he ever wanted to get out of a needle) but the reindeer didn’t need any encouragement this time around and jumped at the sight of the grassy deck. The cook began trying to unload the reindeer’s packs while Lil Bro slowly made his way across the deck with his head down. Girlie had told him Lil Bro was only 14 and if Franky’s teenage years were any indication there was bound to be a little trouble.

“HEY THIS ISN’T WHAT I ASKED FOR, YOU STUPID BIKINI PERVERT! None of this is even close to the right stuff. And why is everything squashed? Does being a cyborg make you illiterate? And Chopper, what’s your excuse?” 

The reindeer was ignoring the irate chef and munching on the grass. 

“Shit, Chopper if you are that hungry I’ll whip something up for you. Don’t eat the grass, Franky walks on that shit barefoot. Or actually if you want, I’ll look up some stuff and make a nice grass dish? At least let me wash it.” 

The reindeer continued ignoring the Curly Cook and moved from munching on the grass to chewing on the nearest green fluffy thing, which just so happened to be, the so called moss head’s moss head. 

"Grass head”

There was a laugh and a splash overboard. Where Cook Bro had been there was an empty railing and a little further down a no longer laughing Cook Bro treading water. Sometimes karma is very swift. As the reindeer continued to chew on Sword Bro’s head the drool began to drip down the swordsman’s face and he shook himself awake

“Knock it off Chopper” 

The half asleep Sword Bro mumbled and pushed the reindeer’s muzzle away only to suddenly jerk instantly awake and draw his swords. 

Green Bro seemed intent on having a staring contest with Lil Bro only to be interrupted when Straw Hat appeared from nowhere, the Sunny’s figurehead if Franky knew his captain at all, and jumped onto the reindeer’s back. Sword Bro sheathed his swords and let out a sigh. Straw Hat cheered.

“Walk point!! Chopper let’s do a lap around the deck! We can race Usopp! TO VICTORY!”

It seemed like an old gag and Long Nose Bro was booking it around the deck but the reindeer was stock-still. And then in a burst of motion they began to buck, slamming Straw Hat against the side fence almost sending him to join Cook Bro in the drink. 

The reindeer’s heavy breathing and sharp barking noises filled the ship. Rebellious teenage years indeed, Franky owed Kokoro a beer.

“Chopper?”

Straw Hat righted himself and managed to clamber his way to the reindeer’s head and pressed his face against their muzzle. A beat of silence and Straw Hat went stock still letting out a soft 

“Oh” 

then a deep breath and

“STOP”

The reindeer dropped to the ground and their mouth began to foam. Straw Hat leapt free and dusted himself off. 

“Luffy, what did you do to Chopper?”

“Nothing, just scared it a little. And that isn’t Chopper” 

Sword Bro wiped drool from his eyes and chimed in

“No shit” 

“What are you talking about Luffy?” 

Girlie presses her hand to her mouth.

“Oh my god, it is black” 

Franky even more confused 

“What?”

“His nose it is all wrong, it is supposed to be blue”

“Oh” 

Shoot him for failing to notice, he had been here for just barely three days. He hadn’t memorized everyone’s booger colour yet. Since joining the crew Franky had felt a little on edge like he was walking on eggshells sometimes, but he was walking on Adam wood that he had built with blood, sweat, and a lot of tears damn it.

Girlie ignored him 

“And no antler brace. Franky, what have you done?” 

“I didn’t do anything, I lost sight of Reindeer Gorilla for a second, found him by the cotton candy stand and carried him back here.” 

Long Nose Bro peered closer at the apparently not Little Bro 

“Franky… did you steal a reindeer?” 

“I don’t know what you all are talking about, this is my Lil Bro.” 

”If Robin finds out you are dead.”

Long Nose Bro reached into his bag pulling out a bright pink flare, he held out his hand and waited. The soaking wet chef grumbled and handed off his lighter 

“Get your own you shitty long nose. You’ll be lucky if it still works, no thanks to the Grassy Knoll and Mr Pervert over there” 

“You fell of the ship your damn self, pervert cook”

Long Nose Bro carefully lit the fuse and shielded his eyes as it exploded into the air. The pink smoke hung in the air for a minute as those on deck stared at in silence, waiting.

“Give it half an hour, he’ll be back.” 

Long Nose Bro said it firmly but Franky saw his nose twitch a little and he knew it was probably a lie. He was getting a hang of knowing his new crew mates after all, too little too late. Long Nose Bro reached into his backpack again and pulled out a second flare, this time purple. He fired it into the air to join the hanging pink. 

“Purple?”

“Robin. She isn’t back yet either. She might have seen Chopper, they like to go to bookstores together” 

Ditched for Nico Robin, couldn’t blame Reindeer Gorilla for that. 

“So what are those other flares for?” 

Franky pointed at the yellow bag, various coloured flares poking out.

“Luffy is red, Nami is orange, Zoro’s green, Sanji’s yellow (black and blue are hard to see in sky sometimes), you have already seen Robin and Chopper’s. I am still working on yours, do you have a colour preference?” 

“Blue is tricky huh? I’ll let you know. But what if we lose you Long Nose Bro? What colour flare are you?” 

The waves rocked the Sunny and Long Nose Bro stared down at the deck like Lil Bro was going to pop out of it. Someone coughed. 

“I guess I could be a greenish brown or something. Anyways, that isn’t important right now, we need to find Chopper.”

An ear and mouth appeared on the deck at their feet. No one flinched although Franky had to stop himself from jerking back, some things took getting used to, Adam’s wood or no Adam’s wood. 

“Is everything alright? I am almost back at the ship.” 

The clean clipped tones of Nico Robin, he never got tired of it, even when the mouth was sprouted out of the deck.

 

Franky looked out to the port and saw a distant figure walking towards the ship. Girlie began to explain

“Robin, have you-”

Straw Hat yelled over her 

“HEY ROBIN! FRANKY LOST CHOPPER!” 

A pair of hands sprouted and grabbed Franky by the balls. No sprouted eyes and Franky hadn’t even so much as breathed. He was vividly reminded that the idea of Nico Robin being out in the world used to keep him up at night and added another point to the newly resurrected list for an entirely different reason. It might be time to start drawing up plans for Battle Franky 37. Iron balls couldn’t be any harder than voice box den den mushi. Poor choice of words, but a pervert is a pervert. Franky managed not to squeak as he tried to explain. 

“I lost track of him for a second in the market, not super I know. But I’ll find my bro, I promise” 

There was slight pressure and then he could breath again. 

“Understood. I’ll go back and check the bookstores. I haven’t seen Chopper but I might of just missed him”

As the eyes and ear began to disappear Straw Hat let out a yell.

“I AM THE MAN WHO WILL BECOME THE KING OF THE PIRATES!” 

Everyone stared at him, why were they still surprised? Straw Hat continued 

“And I am not losing a crew mate not matter what, got it? If I’m going to be Pirate King, at the very least I need to be able to do that.” 

Sword Bro returned to his napping position and stretched

“Chopper probably just got lost, that is all” 

Long Nose sniggered 

“You’d know all about that, huh?” 

The self professed coward didn’t even flinch when Sword Bro opened an eye and glared at him. There are all kinds of courage. 

But they could laugh at the swordsman later, they had a reindeer gorilla to find.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chopper is dead. Just kidding, I have no idea where Chopper is. Okay I have a bit of an idea and some of chapter 2 done but right now I got nothing. Also it is so hard to keep calling them by nicknames I forgot Usopp once and Luffy at least three times, but ninja edit you have no proof


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plans are drawn up and there is a small glimmer of hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thank you to Sagelynaive and Goldshitter for looking this over for me. Sorry it isn't as long as the other one, dialogue is hard.

The pink and purple smoke was still hanging in the air. Franky couldn’t help asking

“How do you guys usually go about finding lost people? This can’t be the first time this has happened, right?”

“ Chopper just tracks Zoro-I mean Chopper tends to sniff people out” Long Nose answered.

”Fantastic ”

He had seen a bit of their finding people attempts back at Water Seven, and been less than impressed. Franky sat down with a thud on the grass. 

“Franky are you okay? You're bleeding!” Sniper Bro was starting to get very high pitched, soon only dogs would be able to hear him.

Franky put his hand to his head and drew it away, sticky with blood. 

“I might of gotten kicked in the head a few times. I think I need to lie down.”

“Go to the infirmary. Chopper will- Nami could you have a look at it?” Long Nose Bro looked over at Girlie hopefully but with a bit of caution.

Girlie made a circle with her pointer finger and thumb

“It is gonna to cost ya”

Franky groaned and flopped down on the grass. He was running low on fuel, might be time for a refill.

Sword Bro called over from his napping position

“Trust me it isn’t worth it. I don’t think I will ever see a Berri again”

“Do you accept cola?” Franky asked hopefully

While Girlie was busy explaining to Sword Bro how he had quadrupled his debt, Long Nose Bro plopped himself by Franky’s head and began to pluck grass and drop it on his face

“Isn’t Cola your life blood Franky? I know Nami has us all by the balls in terms of cash but your fuel? You might want to lock up your cola fridge”

“Nah, Girlie is super”

Franky sat up and looked over at the reindeer that was trying to gather itself together and stand up.

“So you guys are sure that isn’t Lil Bro?”

Girlie slapped her forehead

“Franky we have been over this, the nose-”

The reindeer jumped over board

“CHOPPER”

Franky was in the water before he even had time to think, but the reindeer was treading water beside him. The crew stared down at him from the deck. 

“Okay. Maybe it isn’t Lil Bro”

The reindeer swam away.

“Awwwwwww. I wanted Sanji to fry it” 

“Luffy what the hell. I’m telling Chopper” Long Nose said as he gave Straw Hat’s head a swat. His head bobbled a bit but Straw Hat powered through.

“Nooooo he is going to actually make me get my shots this time”

Cook Bro sighed

“We have to find him first. Right now the only one looking is Robin-swan and she is pretty recognizable from her bounty poster. We need to hit the butcher shops and someone needs to get the Shark Submerge III out checking the bay. Oh, and make sure the Marines didn’t get him”

The crew stared at Cook Bro.

“Butcher!??”

“I am just being realistic. He might be locked up in a shitty pen or something, we just need to get there in time” 

“No one is eating Chopper”

Said the kid that Franky had been told tried to eat Lil Bro on sight. And wanted to cook the definitely not Lil Bro not two seconds ago.

Franky clambered back on board just in time to see Sword Bro rip off his bandages and begin to lift the weights that had been keeping him company as he napped. Sword Bro did a few curls, stopped, looked around and began again. He kept repeating this, until Girlie whacked him over the head adding,

“You’ll open your wounds, idiot. Chopper is going to-oh”

The swordsman huffed

“I’m just working out like normal”

And then in a louder almost stage voice

“I sure hope lifting all these heavy weights doesn’t pop my stitches.”

Only the sound of seagulls answered. Guess everyone has their own way of coping.

Long Nose Bro was running around the ship in circles with Straw Hat following after him yelling every other word

“Have we double checked the infirmary?”

“INFIRMARY”

“ What about the men’s quarters?”

“QUARTERS”

“Or the bathroom, maybe Chopper just really had to take a shit?”

“TAKE A SHIT”

Long Nose Bro stopped with a jolt and Straw Hat ran into him full force. Picking himself up from the scramble of limbs, Long Nose Bro continued

“Remember how Chopper refused to leave the fridge after we left Alabasta?”

Cook Bro grumbled something about brown hair and reindeer shit everywhere and sprinted towards the kitchen. The fridge was still locked. Could Reindeer Gorilla of learned the code, or slipped in when no one was looking?

7-3-2-6

The fridge was half empty and there was a distinct lack of walking talking venison. He opened the freezer just to be sure. It was full of meat that didn’t talk back.

Long Nose Bro was sitting on the deck clutching his knees 

“Could the Foxy pirates of taken him again? Did you feel slow in the market at all Franky? No, they would have just challenged us to a Davy back fight again right? Maybe Chopper’s reindeer dad came to make him rejoin the family? Or a reindeer hunter who killed his parents has come to finish the job? Chopper owed a hiking bear a favour and it has come to collect! Could we have just imagined Chopper? What if Sanji fed him to us?!”

Long Nose Bro looked up as a shadow fell over him. A black clad leg was blotting out the sun.

“What’s wrong Usopp? Keep going. I want to kick something”

Long Nose Bro gulped, plastered his hands over his mouth and shook his head.

Cook Bro lowered his leg.

“Usopp and I will check out the market. Neither of us are recognizable from our bounty poste-”

And Long Nose snorted. Signaling that he had zero sense of self preservation and was only saved from his imminent death by Straw Hat chiming in with his finger half up his nose. 

“But Usopp doesn’t have a bounty, right?”

Fortunately Straw Hat’s finger was up his own nose and not Long Nose’s. Straw Hat had not yet reached picking other people’s noses for them levels. It was really only a matter of time and determination. Franky saw how Straw Hat eyed his metal nose and he had made the mistake of let Straw Hat poke it once or twice but there had to be limits. Even for Captains.

“....Sure, that’s what I meant. Neither of us have bounties so we can move around freely-”

“But Sanji you-” Straw Hat didn’t know when to quit

“I. Do. Not. Have. A. Bounty. Poster. No. Such. Poster. Exists. Got it?” 

Which would be a lot more convincing if Cook Bro wasn’t bouncing Straw Hat like a ball against the deck with his foot as he said it.

“That’s enough”

The Swordsman had dropped his weights and slammed his white sword against the deck. Bits of grass flew into the air.

“Stop fooling around. Shit Cook. We need to find Chopper. Now. A crew won’t survive long without their Doctor. You too Luffy, you are the Captain aren’t you?”

The so called Chef de Merde opened his mouth to protest that is what he was trying to do but this time Franky interrupted

“ I’m joining the search too. Reindeer gor-Chopper got lost on my watch. I should be the one to find him. Got to make it up to my Little Bro”

Girlie raised her hands and the squabbling stopped abruptly

“We can argue all day about who is going where or we can just do it. Usopp and Franky, you guys search the town. Keep your heads down and don’t attract too much attention. ”

They took a moment to appreciate the impossibility of that statement. 

“Sanji you take the Shark Submerge III. Luffy and Zoro, you guys stay here with me. We can’t have you getting lost as well. Or picking fights with Marines. If Chopper comes back someone needs to be here to let everyone know. If you find Chopper or learn anything let us know with these” 

Girlie handed out three baby den den mushi. Franky patted his on the head, it just blinked at him.

“Lil Snail Bro”

Girlie looked at him critically

“Franky, if you insist on going is there anything you can do about...that”

“You just gestured to all of me”

“ Shishishi. Rude. Nami, you are rude” thanks for the support Straw Hat.

But Girlie wouldn’t budge

“Seven foot tall blue haired man doesn’t exactly scream subtle. Sorry Franky” 

“ I could try switching up the hair a little but that might take too long. Maybe later. But I do have an idea”

Franky pulled his tool kit out of his shin, and began to get to work.

Some screws were tightened, Long Nose threw up over the side of the ship and Girlie threatened to pour all the ship’s cola into the ocean. The end result was a uncomfortable six foot tall man with a hat. And pants. It felt wrong. Not super.

“Franky if you rip those off I am doubling your debt”

“Umm Nami I think there is a problem with the plan” which would have sounded a lot more convincing if Long Nose Bro hadn’t said it while using Sword Bro as a human shield

“Usopp, if the words ‘can’t-go-to-the-market-or-I’ll-die disease’ come out of your shitty mouth I will make sure the condition is fatal” Cook Bro’s leg twitched as he said it. Any second now Long Nose Bro would become Broken Nose Bro.

“Miraculous-Usopp-recovery. Sanji that isn’t what I meant. Nami, Sanji doesn’t know how to pilot the Shark Submerge III” somewhere on the docks a dog’s ears perked up

“Is that true Sanji-kun?” Girlie asked

“Sorry Nami-swaaaan”

“Okay so slight change. Usopp and Sanji can help Robin look around the island. Franky you take the Shark Submerge III”

As Cook Bro pirouetted around Girlie, Franky took off his hat and moved to unbuckle his pants. Girlie swatted his hands away.

“The pants stay until we find Chopper. Got it Franky?

Team Doc Hunt aka Team Pants set out. 

….

The patient was stable. It had been touch and go for while but now that the bleeding had stopped, he could take a moment to think. He had been so focused on the patient that everything else had been a blur. Chopper took a deep breath and looked around. 

“Where am I?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look guys Chopper is fine! Hopefully. So this fic will either be three chapter or maybe four. We'll see.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some submarine action and Chopper is a reindeer not a horse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No beta this time. If you notice any mistakes let me know.

He had built the Shark Submerge III to carry up to three people so with only himself inside there was plenty of room, but the metallic echo of his own breathing and the itching sense that time was passing too fast was making Franky feel queasy. Being give or take twenty feet underwater and forced to wear unnatural pants wasn’t helping matters either. He would give anything for that squeaky little voice to start chirping away, dancing around the cabin asking silly questions about what each button did. Instead there was silence. Franky stared out the reinforced glass viewing window scanning the ocean view. If Little Bro was here, he wouldn’t miss him. One of the handy things about being a cyborg was that blinking was purely optional. With a few drops in his eyes every morning, he might blink once or twice a day, if at all. He had won a lot of money off Long Nose Bro that way, the poor kid couldn't say no to a staring contest. Franky usually wore his shades to avoid giving anyone the creeps but with an empty submarine, that wasn’t an issue. 

It would of been so much better if the instant the submerge went under the water that he had spotted Little Bro. The longer it took to find him the less chance that Lil Bro would be- no Lil Bro was fine. He wouldn’t of fallen in the water on the docks, he is too careful, too smart for that. When the Little Doc had treated Franky’s injuries after Enies Lobby, he had prattled on a mile a minute about nerve endings giving Franky a few pointers on how to improve the nerve connection and warned that he shouldn’t mess with the pain receptors anymore as it ran the risk of leading to greater injury. He was one smart reindeer. The best damn doctor he had ever met. To be fair, Franky’s knowledge of doctors was limited to his own self surgery and a few back alley check ups. Who knows, if he had met Chopper earlier he might never have ended up a cyborg in the first place.

His baby den den mushi crackled

“ I have a description of who took Chopper”

The echo of Nico Robin’s sweet voice bounced off the metal walls filling the sub with her sound. It didn’t feel quite so lonely anymore. Cook Bro and Long Nose Bro must have found her and passed on one of the den den mushi.

“7’5 ish. Blue Hair. Handsome”

“Robin, please stop flirting”

Sniper blocked. Thanks for nothing Long Nose Bro. The sniper continued talking ignoring Franky’s silent rebuttal.

“Same on our end. No reports of a reindeer being taken besides a ‘scary big man’ attacking someone and then carrying off a reindeer.”

You give one stranger a noogie and suddenly you’re the bad guy.

The line fell silent. Was no news good news? A shark swam in front of the submerge blocking his view. He pressed the anti fish button, sending out a high pitched noise (better that Long Nose Bro never knew Franky had recorded him screaming), and the shark swam away. Hopefully not with Little Bro nestled in its belly. He was being silly. But he had to face reality. What would he do if he did see Little Bro in the water? If a limp soggy reindeer floated past. How would he break it to the crew? It would almost be better to lie and say he hadn’t seen anything. They could live on with a bit of hope that the laughing reindeer might be just around the next corner, failing to hide and giggling the whole time. A beautiful lie marred only by the smell of wet fur. That wouldn’t happen, he wouldn’t let it. Franky rubbed his nose, half for luck half to relieve his frustration. The group in the market would find Reindeer Bro and they could all laugh and give Franky shit for losing sight of him.

The baby snail opened its eyes again

“Someone just told me a reindeer was found. How come no one called it in?”

Long Nose sounded frustrated

“I haven’t found him”

“No Lil Bro here”

“And Sanji is with me”

“...”

“They did say their owner found them on the docks. We need to catch the not chopper and hang a big sign on them that says ‘I AM NOT CHOPPER’”

“Or fillet him”

“Sannjiiiii”

Something was drifting down in front of him

“How many reindeers can there be on one shitty island, this is ridiculous” from the sound of it Cook Bro was kicking someone or something

It hung in the water. Small. And pink.

“If we buy out the cotton candy stall maybe we can summon Chopper”

Franky was entranced by the falling square, it spun a little revealing a little white cross

“NO!”

“Why not? We might have to twist Nami’s arm for it but it would all be worth it when-”

Something else was falling. Someone. A big figure, falling fast. 

 

-Half an hour earlier-

 

He was on a boat. Even with his legs dangling from the chair, his hooves not quite touching the floor, he could feel the room swaying with the waves. Back when he had first joined the Straw Hats, Chopper had puked himself dry off the side of the ship, until he had the strength to try his hooves at the anti sea sickness pills Doctorine had taught him in passing one day with a wink. He may be on a boat but this definitely wasn’t the Sunny. There were rusted nails poking out of the floor boards and cracked panels sticking up in places. The bloody bed his patient lay on was leaning capriciously ready to dump its injured occupant on the floor at a moment's notice. He could feel the splinter he gotten through his shorts from the chair he sat on. It kind of reminded Chopper of the Merry near the end. Except there were no nails carefully placed with love or desperate panels trying to stop the inevitable like Usopp had done. The ship was falling apart and no one seemed to care. The same could be said for his patient. Malnutrition, cuts all over, and a severed right arm that thanks to a bit of luck and few hours of surgery, was now only nearly severed. No crew members came to visit or check up on his patient. The only sound was the patient’s faint breathing. Chopper had bandaged him up as well as he could with what he had on hoof in his backpack and using the tools that he had scrounged up from this run down infirmary, but it would still take awhile for the patient to recover. Chopper had tried his best to reattach the nerves in his arm but some were so damaged the only way to tell if it worked was time. Best to ask Franky if he had any tips about nerve reattachment from his own surgery. Franky. He had left him in the market. How many hours ago was that? There were no windows and no clocks in the cabin. In the blur of the market and the yells for help he had just acted. Had Franky noticed he had run off? Where even was he? Chopper ran to to the door jumping a little to reach the handle using his weight to try to turn it only to find it locked.

“Is anyone there?” Chopper called out. They probably just accidently locked him in and it was all a big misunderstanding. There was no answer. 

“HEY GUYS!!”

He needed to find a den den mushi. What was the Sunny’s number again? He scanned the room but there was only his patient unconscious on the bed, his chair, a matching chair full of dirty laundry and the medical instruments on the desk. Transforming into Heavy point he pounded on the door again. 

“Ahem”

A polite cough. He turned and started as what he thought was a pile of dirty laundry in the nearby chair began to shake. It drew itself up revealing it not be dirty clothes but dirty clothes wearing a man. Chopper let out a gasp and popped back into Brain Point, hiding his head behind his chair and peering at the strange man. The man's long black coat were ragged and covered in different coloured splotches and Chopper could smell each and every one. He could smell blood. It was fresh.

“Where do you think you are going, Doctor?”

Chopper tried not to dance

‘That doesn’t make me happy at all. The patient is stable so I really should let my crew know where I am”

“Crew”?

“I’m a member of the Straw Hat Pirates. I’m their Doctor”

“No you aren’t.”

The man spat out taking a swig from a dirty green bottle. It smelled like the bottles Zoro usually lugged around, but sharper, more like cleaning products.

“I really am! I even have a bounty poster! I am Cotton Candy Lover Tony Tony Chopper!”

Reaching into his backpack he pulled out the poster that he’d grabbed in the market, he had been planning on hanging it up in the infirmary. As he proudly held out his poster, hooves gripping the sides, he stopped and a thought that had been hammering away in the background finally broke through. Who was this guy? A marine? Or even if he wasn’t, he still might turn Chopper in. Chopper took a deep breath and actually looked at the man. Even if Chopper had been in Heavy Point he still would have towered over Chopper, and his chin was covered in a scraggly bluish black beard that Chopper has the urge to shave on a matter of pure principle, he thought he saw something move in it. Pulled down tight to his skull, was an immaculate hat embroidered with a skull and crossbones. So pirate. Which was good news. Maybe.

“Only 50 berries, what a joke” The man snorted

“It is only my first bounty! One day I will have a bounty worth 30 0000, no 500 0000, no ONE BILLION BERRIES, JUST YOU WAIT!”

“Oh I believe you, as our Doctor I am sure your bounty will rise”

Sometimes you say the exact wrong thing at the exact wrong time

“I AM NOT YOUR DOCTOR YOU BASTARD”

He never saw the whip. One second he was standing on the chair to properly yell at him, the next there was a sharp sting and his muzzle was bleeding.

“I am your captain got it? Show some respect. That is Captain Nivek of the Piebald Pirates to you. Don’t forget it.”

“What?”

“You are on my ship, treating my crew mate and we’ve already set sail. My ship, my rules.”

The motion of the room had gotten faster, the ship was moving. 

“You can’t just… davy back fight! Don’t you have to challenge us to a Davy Back fight?

“A Davy Back fight? A real pirate doesn’t bother with games, you take what you want. That is what it means to be a pirate.”

Nivek noticed Chopper’s glare and continued

“Oh I am sorry did your old captain get down on one knee and asked you to join his crew, pretty please if it wouldn’t be too much trouble? Or did he tell you to shut up and get on board?”

“....”

“So like I was saying before. Welcome to the Piebald Pirates, Tony Tony Chopper”

Chopper’s ears perked up a little

“Pie?”

His stomach grumbled. Reminding him he hadn’t eaten anything since this morning besides the bit of cotton candy he had “sampled” from a market booth. Free samples were a thing right?

“No. Piebald. Pie. Bald”

Chopper squinted at the man, tilting his head trying to see beneath his hat

“Bald? I have some creams if you-”

The whip cracked out again. This time Chopper could make it out and managed to throw himself to the floor. The chair he had been standing on shattered. Nivek ripped off the hat revealing tight black curls that looked almost blue under the yellowish lights of the cabin.

“Piebald. As in a pattern of coloured spots on a white background. Like a piebald horse or-”

“I AM A REINDEER NOT A HORSE”

“Good for you. Now if you would let me finish. The Piebald Pirates now, we aren’t like your average pirate crew. I only take the best and I take them all pirate or no pirate. See that idiot on the bed? He was my newest shipwright. We nabbed him a few islands back, according to him he was bound for Water Seven, to achieve his dream. But my dream called a little louder.”

“Your dream?” Chopper was trying to edge towards the door with as little movement as possible, if he could bust down the door maybe he could... they were at sea right? Where could he even go? 

“Let me guess. You want to become pirate king?”

“Oh no I am not aiming for Pirate King, let all the hot heads and those hell bent on dying with style take that on. I am just happy to build up my own little crew, get every piece right, stealing bits and pieces and patching it all together till it all fits together perfectly. With so many crews headed into the new world there, there are bound to be a few diamonds in the rough on each crew, I just free them from their unfortunate crew choice and give them a better deal. But our good friend here decided he didn’t like my dream, he took off in the middle of the night with my doctor who I strongly encouraged to join after patching up my eye. Once I caught them I got a little too excited doling out their punishment and the poor doctor died, but I still have the shipwright thanks to you and I am not losing him. Luck is on my side, when I lose one Doctor another turns up on a silver platter. You came running up as cute a stuffed animal saying you can reattach the arm easy peasy. I need a new doctor and it seems like you are a perfect fit. Pirates change crews it is a matter of life, you go with what will take you to the top. And don’t worry antlers you just got on the express route. Crews headed for the New World are chalk full of treasure and over confidence, easy pickings and an easy life.”

During this whole spiel the man hadn’t so much as blinked, the manic smile on his face twitched. If Chopper wanted to get out of here with all of his fur attached he was going to have to get creative. Making his way over to the bed, Chopper grabbed the scalpel with his hoof and placed it against the unconscious man’s throat

“Let me go or I’ll kill him”

 

Nivek just laughed. 

“You know antlers, that would be a lot more convincing if the edge of that scalpel you got there was actually facing him”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to cut it off when Franky sees someone in the water but screw it you get it all. Also I suck at names so bonus points if you can figure out how I came up with Nivek. I swear I keep adding chapters to this fic cause I keep wanting to add more stuff and can't seem to end it, sorry.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Straw Hats start to make their move. Franky does not practice proper submarine safety protocol and may violate the laws of physics in the process. Chopper is having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Major thanks to peppernine for reading this over. Also I had to look up scientific formulas for this chapter and it hurt my brain

The Sunny was docked slightly away from the main harbour, tucked away half hidden in the overhanging trees. According to Franky, the locals were okay with pirates as long as they were seen, and not heard. Zoro lay on the deck trying to sleep as Luffy continued his Chopper hunt. ‘Cause of course Chopper might have just fallen asleep in a barrel or climbed up into the crow’s nest. Zoro couldn’t wait to see the shit cook’s face when he saw his kitchen. Their captain had decided to open and empty every single drawer and cabinet, on the off chance that Chopper had somehow managed to shrink down to 12 inches and hide with the spoons. Once Luffy had satisfied himself that Chopper hadn’t buried himself into any of the bags of flour, he stumbled out from the kitchen, caked in white powder and launched himself to the figure head. He stretched, cracking his joints, and stared at the sea

“This is sooooo booooringg! I want to look for Chopper too!”

Nami lay on the deck in her beach chair, flipping through the latest newspaper “And lose you guys too? You’d start a fight in under a minute, we can’t afford that especially now. We need to be fast and quiet. Do you know what quiet means, Luffy?

He grumbled something along the lines of boring.

Zoro opened his eyes and stared out at the waves. Someone had to say it. 

“Luffy, as the captain, you have to decide. What will you do if Chopper doesn’t want to come back?”

“What do you mean if he doesn’t want to come back!? Of course he wants to come back! He just got lost! Or someone caught him or-”

“Chopper isn’t weak or a pushover. He’s strong, if someone tried to take him, he wouldn’t have gone without a fight. Someone would've noticed, there would be signs of a struggle. But instead nothing. If he was lost, he would be back by now after seeing Usopp’s flare”

Before Luffy could even begin to yell, Nami interjected “We just got Robin back, she also isn’t a pushover. They could have something on him. Besides, Chopper’s also super gullible. He’ll follow anyone if they seemed like they needed help. ”

“So you are saying Usopp is right and someone from Drum came after him?” 

Luffy still laying on the Sunny’s head was staring intently at Nami upside down. Having apparently stopped listening to her halfway through. Nami shrugged.

Zoro wasn’t done though.

 

“We should plan for the worst. Luffy, are you willing to get a new doctor?”

Luffy blinked at him

“Chopper is our Doctor”

“So that settles it”

 

Nami threw down her newspaper with a huff. “The evening addition doesn’t have news of anyone turning in Chopper for his bounty.There are some interesting reports in here though. Big time pirates who come through here and some of the bigger bounties vanish without getting handed over to the marines or washing up dead. I know we are close to the Florian Triangle but this is ridiculous. It isn’t whole crews though, just one or two pirates. It doesn’t stop at pirates either, locals keep going missing as well. So many missing people reports. Something isn’t right here. Zoro! Luffy! We’re setting sail!”

Luffy huffed, “I’m the captain and I say we don’t set sail until we find Chopper”

“And this might help us find Chopper. If there is someone targeting pirates, they won’t be out in the open in the harbour now will they? If we circle the island maybe we can find something”

“Fine”

And with that the Sunny was a blur of motion, getting ready to set sail with only three people on board was tricky but manageable. Nami tapped her den den mushi 

“Guys, we are going to do a lap around the island. See if we can find any suspicious ships. So don’t freak out if you come back and we aren’t there, got it?”

“Roger. You’re so smart Nami swwaaaaaaaaan’

Ignoring this deserved praise, Nami leapt back into action.

 

\----

 

The figure was falling fast. It was still above the sub but any second now, at the speed the sub was going, he would pass it and miss. Franky slammed the brakes and stopped with a jolt. Looking up he could no longer see the figure, they were directly above. The seconds counted now, he reached for the hatch. Spinning the wheel he pushed, but nothing. It didn’t even budge. He tried not to think about how deep underwater he was. Deliberately ignoring the fluorescent lit number hanging overhead that he knew was somewhere between ten and twenty but he didn’t have time for that. His Lil’ Bro was out there. Calculations rattled off inside his head, repeating over and over again. That sea water weighed more than fresh water and you had to factor in the water temperature as well. It was too heavy. He shook his head, None of that mattered, he was feeling super this week. Bracing his feet against the floor, he shoved with all his weight against the hatch, shouting at the top of his lungs

“SUUPPPERRRRR!”

The water hit him like a wall, a gross salty wall that poured over him trying to drag him down with it and flooding every open orifice on his body, but the hatch was open. A whole miraculous foot, gushing salt water over his head. There was no such thing as miracles, only steel. He could feel those steel joints buckle and his feet were beginning to slip in the water. Just as he tried to regain his balance, he was hit by a heavy figure. Never had he ever been so happy to have the wind knocked out of him. He’d fallen to his knees and the water was rising, fast. Pushing the figure off, he slammed the hatch shut. The shark submerge III was half full of water and the figure was face down in it. In single fluid motion, one hand slammed the super convenient drain button and the other flipped over the figure. He stared into a face he didn’t recognize. Instead of the brown fur he expected, there was only white bandage upon white bandage. Had he fished out some kind of deep sea mummy? He pulled against the bandages only to find skin, no fur. Had they shaved him? No. The nose was wrong, human. But something was itching at him, the face wasn’t familiar but something else was. What what was it? The bandages, The way the wraps held firm, the little knots that were tied just so. Franky had a matching one on his arm. Chopper had done this. He was close. He pulled the man close and yelled 

“WHERE IS MY DOCTOR!” 

The figure was unconscious. Above him someone was chucking Chopper’s patients into the ocean, whoever they were, they were about to meet a Strong Right. 

 

Earlier

 

Chopper dropped the scalpel. He never would have followed through on it anyways, hurting a patient went against every fibre of his being.

“So, where does that leave us now antlers? Are you gonna join like good reindeer?”

Chopper reached into his pocket and found only pocket lint

Nivek laughed

“I’m not stupid you know. I read about what happened at Enies Lobby. How a big monster appeared attacking pirates and marines alike. Most people just brushed it off as the papers exaggerating, but I am not taking any chances with funny things in pockets, even if they are just candies.”

Chopper glanced at the door

“So tell me Doctor, how long ‘till my runaway shipwright here is back in action?”

Chopper replied without thinking, his doctor instincts taking over

“Three or four months. A year for complete recovery if he’s lucky”

Nivek was in his face in an instant

“That isn’t good enough. You call yourself a Doctor? 

“You almost cut off his arm. He isn’t a stuffed animal, I can’t just sew it back on and fix it just like that,” he had said the same to Zoro after hearing about his ‘almost cut off his limbs’ adventures, only Zoro would have two different times where he needed to cut off limbs. Zoro had just huffed at him and continued working out, Nivek frowned. 

“I don’t have time for weak people on my crew” Nivek stepped away from Chopper, back towards the bed. He picked up the unconscious figure and began to make his way to the door

“Time to get rid of some dead weight”

“What are you doing?!” Chopper turned into heavy point and stood out arms outstretched blocking the door 

“Out of my way, Doctor. OYE BOYS WE GOT A LIVELY ONE IN HERE”

With a click, the door burst open and suddenly the room was full of pirates. All barreling down on Chopper and dragging him to the floor

One of the whispered “Don’t fight him. It is best to just shut up and wait until he finds someone else, once he finds a new member it gets bit easier”

From under the pile of bodies, Chopper could make out Nivek walking out on the deck towards the ship railing. He raised his arms. No. Chopper roared and he felt the people on top of him brace for his thrashing only to fall to the ground as they found themselves dogpiling on air. In brain point, Chopper managed to wiggle his way out of the confused mass of bodies. Once outside, he felt a wave of wind hit him. It was almost a gale, he could barely keep his footing. He felt wind take his hat, blowing it somewhere overboard, but that didn’t matter now. The wind was roaring so turning back into heavy point he roared back, charging at Nivek.

“PUT HIM DOWN”

“Doctor’s orders”

And Nivek threw him overboard. There was a load splash, no thrashing or screaming, the pluses of drowning someone who isn’t conscious. 

“YOU BASTARD!” Chopper made to jump in after but felt arms grab him again.

“Get the muzzle on him you idiots! Seastone, quickly!”

Chopper felt someone fumble around his head with leather, with several blue stones crudely fasten to it. He looked out at the ocean and saw in the distance one little tiny hope. FIghting against storm was the Sunny.

“Guys! Please! “ and before he could yell that he was here, the leather cinched and he felt all his energy drain away.

-

Zoro sat up with a jolt from napping through gale force winds 

“Look who decided to join us.We need your help with the sail, now. Barely halfway round the island and a storm decided to hit us, sure I knew it was coming a few minutes ahead of time but someone decided it was a good time to hibernate and refuse to wake up”

“CHOPPER!”

“Yes we are looking for Chopper, now shut up and help!”

“No, I heard him I definitely heard him”

Nami just looked at him. Sure he could barely hear her over the wind and she was right in front of him, but he knew what he had heard. A scream that was so familiar.

From the top of the sail, Luffy screamed 

“SHIP TO STARBOARD! SHIP TO STARBOARD”

Turning, Nami saw another ship being tossed by the waves. A ship with a horse figure head and a spotted skull flag flying. The ship seemed ready to capsize.

Luffy yelled out again “Let’s head toward them! It looks like they are in trouble!”

With a bit of luck and some tricky rope work, they managed to get within yelling distance of the ship

“HEY ARE YOU GUYS OKAY?!” Luffy yelled out 

The huddle of soaked people just looked at him blankly

“Why do you care?”

“Rude”

From the sopping wet masses, one figure stepped forward, clutching a somehow still spotless captain's hat to his head against the wind

“You’re the Straw Hat pirates aren’t you?”

“Yeah and you are almost sunk. If you give us-” Nami closed her eyes for a second mentally counting “20 000 berries we’ll help you guys out of this storm”

The other ship’s captain laughed scratching his so blue it was almost black scraggly beard 

“We don’t need your help. Every pirate for themselves”

Luffy called out from on high

“Hey if you guys don’t need help, have you seen a super cool seven point transforming reindeer? We lost him. He has a blue nose and he’s usually about this big”

 

Luffy held his hand out, he was give or take thirty feet in the air and as result holding his hand at waist level was not what most people would consider small.

Laughing he continued “But like I said, he can transform so he can get even bigger” Luffy threw his hands in the air

The other ship looked at him in horror

“Anyways, he is our Doctor and we want him back. Now.”

“A transforming reindeer? What have you been drinking? Cactus juice? I’ll have whatever your drinking”

“Saanjiiiii give this man an apple juice!! Wait, Sanji isn’t here. HEY GUY, DO YOU WANT AN APPLE JUICE?”

 

The apparent Captain shrugged and turning away from the Sunny he called out laughing, 

“Sorry Straw Hat! No Choppers here, better find yourself a new Doctor. What a joke.”

Luffy was swinging down from the sail, on an apple juice hunt for his new best friend most likely.

Nami slapped her cheek and whispered to herself and Zoro

“We never said his name”

Zoro drew his swords, crouching into a fighting stance and yelled through his sword

“Chopper are you there!?”

Nami sighed in exasperation

“Well now we did, but Luffy didn’t. These guys know something”

“CHOPPERRRRRRRRRRRR!! COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE”

Luffy was already swinging over onto the other ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the fic that never ends, it just goes on and one my friends, someone started writing it not knowing what it was and just continued writing it forever just because this is the fic that never ends. Except next chapter is a fight chapter and most likely the last one..maybe. This will be my first time trying to write a fight scene so it will be interesting for everyone involved to say the least


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Franky goes on Chopper hunt and the author avoids writing a fight scene

Coming up to surface, peeking out from the submarine’s hatch, Franky saw it. A ship being tossed by the waves and beside it, the Sunny. He could already hear the screaming and he saw a certain straw hat bouncing about in the chaos of the other ship. Still no sign of Chopper though. He had to be here. The bandages didn’t lie, and the hat. The hat was key. The final nail in the coffin. No, not a coffin, poor choice of words. Chopper was fine. Franky dove out of the sub and swam towards the other ship. Luckily even with his metal frame, he could still float, that had been an interesting trial run. No, he had to focus. Looking over at the Sunny as he swam past, he spotted Girlie and mid super front crawl he called out to her

“Chopper is on that ship!”

She yelled back

“Yeah, we know!”

So much for his groundbreaking discovery

“So, where is he then?!”

“Still working on that part! ” Girlie shrugged. Turning her head away from Franky, she looked over at Sword Bro who seemed to be walking to the opposite side of the ship, away from the action.

“Zoro where are you-“ Girlie began and stopped as Sword Bro sprinted past her leaping onto the neighbouring ship.

“Okay, great. Leave me alone on the ship in the middle of a hurricane, this should go great. You guys better find Chopper, or else!”

Ignoring the navigator’s complaints (she could handle herself), Franky clambered his way onto the enemy ship. Over the sound of the storm, he could hear his captain yelling over and over again

“ Where! Is! Chopper!?”

Punching his way through the mess of bodies, following the screams, Franky made his way over to Strawhat. He called out

“Hey Captain, I have a request!”

Strawhat spun around stopping his gatling gun of fists, just in front of Franky’s face. Franky felt a bead of sweat run down his check, it had been a very long day. Strawhat dropped his hands and grinned and it was like the sun had come out from behind the clouds. Girlie should find a way to bottle his energy and use it for her weather shenanigans.

“Oh Franky, you’re here!”

“Listen. This is super selfish of me, I know, but leave Chopper to me. You can kick everyone on this ship’s asses, but just let me handle finding Chopper. Please. ”

It felt weird saying please, but this small man in front of him was his captain now. So he had to ask. Even as just a pretence. The moment hung in the air for half a second, and Franky tried to think what he would do if Straw Hat said no. Go back to the Sunny in shame? Tag along behind him and hope for the best? Mutiny to find his crewmate? Straw Hat interrupted his spinning thoughts with an easy

“Deal”

and with that Straw Hat went back to punching wildly. His face looked less frantic now, more relaxed as if a certain reindeer sized weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Franky raised his hands into the air, turning his arms and sticking his leg out bellowed

“SUPER LEAVE IT TO ME”

and that was a promise.

Franky looked around the deck, not a furry friend to be found. To be fair, in the mess of charging pirates, and now that most of them had met Luffy, fleeing pirates; it was hard to get a clear sight of anything. Well, gotta start somewhere. Franky walked up to a door at random and tried the handle. It opened easily only for him to get a broom to the eye. A panicked face stared back it him waving the stick end of a different broom at him

“OW not super bro!”

Franky blinked, luckily the broom hadn’t splintered in his eye and the artificial eye tissue could take a poking or two. Still it was a matter of principle really, wood and eyes didn’t mix.

“Hey, hey, hey, calm down bro. You could take someone’s eye out with that thing. I just want to ask you a few questions”

The rapid shaking back and forth of the broom handle was starting to get on his nerves, so he reached out and squeezed. Splinters aren’t really a thing for cybrogs. The debroomed pirate squeaked at the sound of wood snapping but still managed to stutter out

“Oh- oh yeah? Like what?”

His mind going to the worst case scenario (thanks Cook Bro) Franky asked

“Where is the kitchen?”

“What? You guys raided our ship for food?”

Franky laughed, “We didn’t start this, Bro. But sure, let’s just say I am just really really hungry. Help a brother out?”

The man trying and failing to make bristles scary, stole a glance behind Franky, bodies were still flying everywhere. To quicken the process, Franky tilted his left hand allowing the specially installed cannon to help freshen the pirate’s memory. Said pirate’s eyes widened and he pointed to the right whimpering “second door from the right”

A quick walk over and a try of the handle but it didn’t budge. So Franky pulled on his index finger popping it off at the first knuckle revealing a screwdriver. He carefully unscrewed the hinges and threw the door aside. A small wood stove with a dinky fridge beside it greeted him. Something smelled delicious. A man in a chef hat stared at him, horrified. Franky greated him with a smile, gritted teeth count as a smile right?

“What’s cooking? For your sake, I hope it isn’t reindeer”

“Why should I tell you anything?”

For the second time in under a minute, Franky raised him left arm in front of him and calmly said “Weapons Left”. His arm spun and his wrist opened to reveal a gaping hole. Franky closed one eye, it might not actually help with aiming, but scary winks are also super.

“Let’s try this one more time. I have a little reindeer friend, a doctor, have you seen him? You better not have seasoned him.”

The cook raised his hands in the air

“It is just a ham shank, I swear. I don’t even know how to cook reindeer”

Franky sniffed, it did smell hammy but he had never smelled cooked reindeer before either.

“Prove it”

“But sir, it isn’t done yet”

Franky banged on his stomach or where traditionally speaking a stomach should be, Franky had reinforced and adjusted his all those years ago, and the tinny (galvanized steely doesn’t have the same ring to it) sound rang out

“Trust me, food poisoning won’t be an issue. If I were you, I would be less worried about someone else’s health and more worried about my own. But if you don’t want a surprise taste testing, I can always give you a taste of my own cooking”

The cook opened his mouth to ask, but before he could speak Franky pointedly slammed his fist into his open palm.

“One knuckle sandwich, coming right up”

The cook gulped, faltering backward and eyes still fixed on Franky’s fists, blindly opened the stove. 

Franky made his way closer to oven, bending over to peer inside. On a small pan was glistening pink meat that fortunately for the cook and Chopper wherever the hell he was, did not meet his eyes. Franky tore a chunk off with his index and thumb and took a bite. He had never tasted reindeer before but he’d scarfed down whole hams before and this was ham all right. Not especially good ham but ham. Franky carefully closed the stove and walked to the doorway calling after him “It could use some more garlic” Feet in the empty door frame he turned back to face the shaking chef

“Oh almost forgot, where’s your sick bay?”

BOOM

Well that sounded suspiciously like a mast falling down. What a shame. He felt his hair stood on end (or well more on end then usual) as he heard yet another loud crash and then another and then other. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the flashes of light one after another. Looks like Nami has joined in on the fun. The chef had fallen to his knees on the ground and shakily pointed to the right, “Just the next door over”, Franky left him to his ham.

Making his way through the wreckage that the deck was quickly becoming, narrowly avoiding some of the bodies Straw Hat was throwing around, Franky made it to the so called next door over. A simple white cross was scratched into the door marking it as the medicine bay. He could of saved himself some time if he had actually spent two seconds looking around but it was not that kind of day to be honest, sue him. Frank stared at the door, now was not the time for knocking. For the third and hopefully final time, Franky spun his left hand to the side and blasted the door open. As the smoke cleared, he was greeted by the most super sight he had seen in what felt like years. Chopper. The world’s greatest doctor, reindeer, gorilla and tanuki. The sight was soured only the the reindeer’s tears (at his super entrance maybe) and the patchwork leather and seastone muzzle over his mouth. Oh and the gun pointed at his head.

"You put a muzzle on Chopper?!" technically speaking Franky's vision could not go red, he had carefully reattached the nerves in his left eye and rebuilt the right eye nerves from scratch (trains and eyes are not friends), so any drastic colour changes would mean something was seriously wrong, or that he has accidentally switched on infrared vision, again. So at the sight of his best doctor bro being held at gunpoint, his vision did not become impaired in any fashion. Something snapped in his brain, but Franky was no brain surgeon, after the accident he had mainly focused on picking out any bone fragments and reinforcing around it. The surge of adrenaline coursing through his brain was 100% natural and just made things very simple. Someone was hurting his friend and he was going to make it stop. Fair is foul and foul is an angry cyborg.

“Now I am not sure if you are lucky or not. ‘Cause usually my captain is really good at finding the one that he needs to fight Yet here I am and here you are. He’s out there wreaking havoc on your ship, hell he might even sink it. Sure, you might lose your mast and get a few holes in your deck and hull, but all that is fairly fixable. At least, if you have a half decent shipwright that is. You could probably bring it in for repairs if you are lucky. Unfortunately for you, I am here. I will take this ship apart, nail by nail until it is nothing but firewood. Hell, not even that. Sawdust and nails. It’s been that kind of week to be honest. Easy fix you think right? Just doggy paddle your way back to Galley-La and get a new ship. Go for it. Once we sail away from you lot, I am making one den den mushi call that will see you shot down before you even get the chance to make it to the bay. Let’s just say the Mayor and I go way back. So how do you want this to go down?”

 

The man turned his gun from Chopper (unharmed turning to Franky with wide eyes blinking at him and the tears started to run down his fur) and pointed it at Franky who had already started barrelling towards him.

"Stop or I'll-"

Fanky showed no sign of stopping, so the man fired in quick succession, two shots, each pinging off into the woodwork, missing Chopper (thank gol d roger) and the man (unfortunately). He was so close, just a foot or two away (it would of made more sense to just shoot the man but the adrenaline in his brain was saying that this was something that needed to be settled with fists) when the man turned the gun from Franky back to Chopper. He was so small in brain point, like a living breathing teddy bear with antlers that would cuss you out with happiness if you said doctor around him. Teddy bear was little on the nose as the man held Chopper like a treasured stuffed animal, close to his chest and most importantly, in a headlock. The muzzle looked silly on Chopper, as if he was some kind of rabid dog that needed to be controlled. Like putting up a ‘beware of dog’ sign for two-week-old puppy. The sweet little doctor who loved his swivel chair so much he thanked Franky with tears in his eyes. The same doctor that he’d had to blast into the sea because a giant terrifying monster was always only three rumble balls away. Suddenly it wasn't very funny.

A thought managed to sneak in past the burning rage and Franky screamed

"Strong right!"

and sent his arm blasting towards Reindeer bro.

He grabbed the muzzle and yanked back his chain. The muzzle broke. Franky knew shoddy workmanship when he saw it and the awkwardly tapped together muzzle had been bound to snap.

Chopper cheered as he grew, the man being pulled down by his weight suddenly trying to one hand hold a 380 pound reindeer. In mid air, Chopper spun and kicked out, even as the man made as if to fire. Instead his head rung and he fell limply to the ground.

Franky allowed himself a second to breath, oxygen flowing back into him. Suddenly there was more on him mind then rage.

"Hey, no fair I wanted to do that!"

"Well I wanted to do it for longer"

They stared at each other and suddenly Franky's vision became impaired by something that was definitely and purely scientifically speaking, not tears. It was only eye lubricant. His tear ducts had fried long ago so on very calculated intervals he needed to moisturize them, hence the only blinking for other people's comfort. If these intervals happened to coincide with periods of extreme emotion it was purely happenstance, or so Franky liked to tell himself. But a cyborg may not dream of electric sheep but they certainly hug their friend and cry every now and again.

Franky fell to his knees, from sheer relief or possibly metal strain his legs had given out (thinking back on it he was pretty sure he had lifted 1000 tons of water it was all very fuzzy now) and Chopper clopped closer to him having managed to land on his hooves after the spin kick, maybe reindeer were like cats, always landing on their feet (authors note: please do not test this on an actual reindeer).

Chopper nuzzled Franky's head as he tried to wipe the eye lubricant away with the back of his hand,

"Franky are you okay?

"Yeah I'm fine. I was just so worried. I thought, I thought had lost you forever bro. I am so,so sorry." Franky tried to take a deep breath, through the snot...nose insulator, it proved a tad difficult.

"Franky, it is okay. I'm sorry for wandering off but I'm fine and your fine. Everyone is fine" Franky wasn't sure if he was the one supposed to be comforted in this scenario but he didn't argue as it is hard enough being comforted by someone with hooves instead of hands and he didn't want to lose an eye. Thankfully Chopper shifted from reindeer form to gorilla form and awkwardly patted Franky's pompadour, he could fix it later.

"Speaking of everyone, where are they? I thought I saw the ship earlier, I heard some screaming and then there was a big boom? What happened?"

"Oh they're all fine. To be fair the screaming was Straw Hat's fault, and the boom was Girlie. I just got here"

"Are you really going to do all that stuff you said? Take it apart nail by nail?”

Before Franky could answer there was a high-pitched whistle and suddenly they could feel the rain on their faces. Most of the surrounding wall and ceiling has vanished and Franky was pretty sure he had lost a few hairs. The swordsman had cut it awfully close,

"Oh there you are Chopper, that was easy" Sword Bro said sheathing his sword. Chopper gave a little wave.

"Hey, I found him first!" it wasn't super at all to steal someone's thunder sword bro, geesh.

"CHOPPER!" a red bullet slammed into the gorilla reindeer almost sending him to the deck. The floor was starting to get slippery from the rain.

Talking a mile a minute, their captain from his vantage point behind Chopper's head began catching him up on what he had missed in the hours he had been missing. Franky tuned him out but he was pretty sure he heard something about Chopper having an evil twin and they needed to work together to find him and eat him.

As if coming out of a daze, he suddenly noticed the ship had fallen silent besides Straw Hat's chatter. No more thunder or screams.

"Did you guys take out everyone?"

Sword bro just nodded.

Straw Hat apparently having finished his epic tale, pumped his fists in the air and shouted, still atop Chopper

"Let's go! I'm hungry! Sanji, food!"

"Cook bro's back at the island with Long Nose Bro and Nico Robin remember?"

"Oh yeah, that was dumb. We should of all just come here'

Sighing, they stood and waited as the Sunny made it's way closer to the ship bumping against it and Girlie jumped along right after, grabbing Chopper's hands and gripping them tight

"Chopper! You almost gave me a heart attack! You wouldn't believe what these idiots got up to while you were gone"

"I have an evil twin apparently? And Sanji might want to eat me?"

"I am sure he will calm down. In the mean time, you owe me 40,000 berri for undue stress. Don't worry I'll just take it out of your allowance"

Chopper sniffed "But but medical textbooks"

Girlie sighed "Fine, you can split the costs with Franky since it is mostly his fault after all."

"Hey!"

Straw Hat had yelled before Franky could even say anything in his own defence. He turned to look at his captain who in the mess of the Sunny arriving had leaped down from his perch on Chopper.

"Franky and Chopper, I need to talk to both of you." Straw Hat's mouth was a straight line and his grip in his hat tight so it didn't blow away in the gale.

"Can it wait 'till after we get off of the probably sinking ship?"

"No"

Franky gulped, he had never felt afraid of Straw Hat before, afraid for him sure, back against that Lucci guy but never afraid of. Not 'till now. He could feel his arm hairs standing on end, or maybe it was just an after effect of all that lightening Girlie had been firing around, but this felt different.

'If you are going to leave, you have to ask first. Understand? And watch each other's backs." Arms folded, their captain laid out his law.

 

“But I didn’t want to leave!” Chopper wailed.

Straw Hat’s straight line of a mouth broke, curving up. The tension left the air a little.

“Why didn’t you say so in the first place? Let’s get out of here, I am starving” and Straw Hat was off running back towards the Sunny and in a single bound he was in his proper spot, the figurehead.

The remaining crewmembers stared at each other.

“So what should we do about all of them?” Franky gestured at the bodies around them, some of them starting to groan. The ship was also beginning to list a little to the left as the wind died down.

”Give me one second” and Girlie ran off, following the line of the fallen mast. A minute or two passed and the boys stared at each other in silence. She eventually she returned waving a black flag and carrying some bags of if he knew his new crew mate at all, treasure.

“Just a little fee for our troubles. And I found this.” She held up an emergency flair, “if we set this off the marines are bound to show up”

Straw Hat jumped from Chopper’s head to dance around Girlie cheering

“You took their flag I didn’t even think of that! Good job Nami!” and he slapped her on the back

Girlie faltered a little and swatted her captain’s head, Franky watched fascinated it wobbled for a few seconds before Straw Hat stopped it

“Take out crewmate, we take your flag, pretty simple. We did it to Foxy remember? Only no one is drawing these assholes a new one”

Straw Hat cheered in agreement and sprinted toward the Sunny picking up Chopper as he went.

“Back to the ship I guess. Before this ship really does sink”

Girlie called out as ran after her captain and stopped to grab the Sword Bro’s arm as he began to walk to the opposite side from the Sunny. Franky was left alone on the deck.

Chopper was back but Franky still couldn’t shake that sense of panic and of course the guilt. He had looked after the Franky family for years and sure they had pulled some dumb shit and gotten hurt but this felt different. He wasn’t sure why. He knew that although Chopper was young he could still handle himself. Maybe this is what it meant to join a pirate crew, you gotta figure it out as you go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is hard to believe I finally finished a multi chapter fic. Thanks to everyone who read along the way, the awesome people betad it for me and to everyone who commented. I hope you have a super day.


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